FIXED WIRELESS ISPs ARE AMONG THE BIG WINNERS AS FCC ANNOUNCES RESULTS OF RURAL SUBSIDY AUCTION

PRESS RELEASE

Washington, DC – More than a dozen members of the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA) are among the newly announced winners of funding under the Federal Communications Commission’s Connect America Fund Phase II (CAF II) auction.

The CAF II program will provide nearly $1.5 billion over the next decade to expand fixed, high-speed Internet service in unserved rural areas. Fixed wireless ISPs collectively won about half of the total funding.

“The strong performance of so many WISPA members in the CAF II auction is further evidence that fixed wireless ISPs are among the most cost-effective broadband providers in the nation,” said WISPA President Claude Aiken. “We congratulate our members on their success.”

“With the completion of this auction, the focus now shifts to effective implementation and oversight of these rural service deployments,” said Aiken.

“Just as important, the policy debate must now to shift to spectrum policy, which is equally important to the future of rural broadband,” Aiken added. “Specifically, the commission’s upcoming decisions on the ‘CBRS’ spectrum band may be just as consequential vote in FCC history on the future of broadband service in rural America.”

WISPA has been working to discourage the FCC from adopting changes in the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) band that would effectively block small ISPs from using those airwaves to serve rural areas. (See http://www.wispa.org/Advocacy/CBRS_SPECTRUM.)

About WISPA

WISPA is a membership-driven trade association that promotes the development, advancement and unity of the fixed wireless Internet service provider industry. WISPA has over 800 members that support WISPA’s advocacy, education and other collaborative industry initiatives. For more information, visit www.wispa.org.